"Pot Secret" - Freeing thousands of Food Safety Reports

Yesterday we launched "Pot Secret" ("Topf Secret" in German) - a platform against secrecy at food authorities. Consumers can use this platform to obtain the results of hygiene controls in restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets and other food-processing businesses.

Together with our partners at foodwatch, we created a platform that enables all people to quickly and easily send pre-formulated freedom of information requests about businesses to the relevant authorities.

"Pot Secret" is based on a map that displays all businesses related to food that can be found in Open Street Maps. Users can select any establishment - from restaurants to bakeries to petrol stations - via a search function or by clicking on a road map. All users need to do is enter their name, e-mail and postal address, which will be sent to one of the matching regional authority together with a prepared text.

We need a Transparency Law

With the campaign, we not only want to make it possible for citizens to exercise their right to information.We want to pressure the government to enact proactive transparency laws on food safety. So far, most of the results of hygiene controls have been kept secret. Federal Nutrition Minister Julia Klöckner must create the legal basis for a transparency system such as that in Denmark, Wales or Norway. All the results of official food inspection are published there, on the Internet and directly at the shop door.

So far, our campaign has shown how big public interest in hygiene transparency is: More than 4,500 requests were filed in the first 24 hours of the campaign already.

Take part in the campaign (in German) →